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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: race · wake · drill · fall · cell · cap · straw · wound

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. wound — an injury
  4. cap — of ice
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. drill — army training
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cap — a hat
  9. wound — an injury
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. fall — to drop
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. drill — the tool
  14. cap — a lid
  15. race — humankind
  16. cell — a phone
  17. race — the arms race
  18. race — a contest
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. fall — to drop
  21. drill — a practice
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com